When I ask my creative writing students at the University of Pittsburgh to tell me stories about themselves as readers, I hear anecdotes like that one. They, too, were constantly exhorted by nearby adults to put their books down and look around on family trips (I nearly missed spotting Old Faithful in Yellowstone because I was nose-deep in a Nancy Drew). They, too, chose reading over most other activities, and, like me, many were punished for minor infractions by having books taken away for a day, leaving us to watch television—the horror!—for entertainment. They, too, packed and still pack
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